Joe Sixpack’s state of beer advertising

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Don Russell, aka Joe Sixpack, prepares us for the Super Bowl with his 5th Annual State of the Sleaze.

What happened to the babes?

As the 2006-07 beer commercial season draws to a close on Super Sunday, it’s become obvious that chicks – and I use that term with all due respect for the talented, young, toothy, breast-enhanced blondes paid to bounce and giggle on cue – are a thing of the past.

Budweiser gets his top rating for a spot in which the Stadium fans flash placards to animate a poured beer.

Of course, it all changes Sunday when Anheuser-Busch rolls out its new commercials during the Super Bowl. The Wall Street Journal reports in one Bud Light spot a game of rock, paper, scissors goes painfully awry.

Super Bowl holiday

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For obvious reasons, this is a big beer weekend in the Indianapolis area.

So beer distributor Monarch Beverage Company has decided to give all of its 600 employees a paid day off Monday.

When they clock out for the weekend they’ll also receive a Super Bowl T-shirt and a six-pack of beer. This is an Indiana distributor who handles Coors products.

Think they are going home with Coors Silver Bullet?

Nope. Blue Moon White Ale.

Mad River learns to pay the toll

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Mad River Brewing founder Bob Smith loves living in Humboldt County, but it does pose unique challenges for his brewery.

With restrictions on the length of trucks that can travel in and out of the county, Mad River is forced to ship its products out on 48-foot trucks, only to have the loads re-packed onto the 54- or 56-footers that serve the rest of the country. These changeovers add dramatically to shipping costs, limiting the microbrewery’s ability to reach other markets.

”It’s like being the shortest guy in a basketball game,” Smith said.

The Times-Standard in Eureka profiles Smith and the brewery. He started homebrewing in high school and was inspired to open Mad River after buying homebrew supplies from Ken Grossman when Grossman was still operating Chico Home Brew Shop and working on the business plan for Sierra Nevada Brewing.

Has Sam Calagione heard about this?

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A Japanese brewery makes a beer using milk and calls it Bilk.

Does this qualify as an extreme beer? Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione provides this definition in Extreme Brewing: “Extreme beers are brewed with more amounts of the traditional ingredients or non-traditional ingredients.”

Although several American microbreweries have brought back the almost extinct British-style milk stout we’re pretty sure most would consider milk a non-traditional ingredient.

Thirsty Traveler offers beer advice

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Ever watch The Thirsty Traveler – Kevin Brauch – on the Fine Living Network?

Pilsner Urquell has hired him to host a new website called the Beer Advisor.

“Today’s beer aficionados want more than just a beer, they want a total beer experience, and they rely on their trusted bartender to guide them,” said Evan Cohen, U.S. brand manager for Pilsner Urquell. “Beeradvisor.net is a comprehensive resource that arms bartenders, wait staff, restaurant managers and others in the hospitality industry with all the information they need to give their patrons the experience they’re looking for, and then some.”

Although Pilsner Urquell is the sponsor, the Czech beer – SABMiller now owns the brand – does not get particularly preferential treatment.

The presentation has the same feel, some would say sophistication, as the TV series. In his show, Brauch wanders the world in search of all manner of drink, so he might check out vodka in Russian, then beer in Alaska (the latter obviously focusing on the craft beer). In contrast, this site – as Cohen’s statement would indicate – is oriented first toward those who sell beer.

If you visit you’ll quickly conclude that Pilsner Urquell put some bucks behind this project. So – and I ‘ve written about this before – why is it that when you visit a beer website that asks for your age that you have to enter it on every visit? The site may remember all sorts of other things about you, but not your age. It’s not just a nuisance, but trust me on this, when you get older you don’t always want to be reminded of your age.

All-malt Michelob

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Michelob is getting a makeover.

Ho-hum, you say? How cares about a new embossed teardrop bottle?

But wait. There’s more news hidden in the Brandweek story.

Michelob will no longer be made with rice and corn. Right, no adjuncts.

Yet the redo is not intended to align Michelob with craft beers, say wholesalers. Rather the strategy is to bring the brand closer to its original roots and target, which is older consumers. Product literature describes the target as 28 to 54-year-old drinkers who might be drawn to a beer with “more robust malty body and distinctive hop character.” A-B was not available for comment.

Drinkers looking for more robust malty bod and distinctive hop character? That wouldn’t be you, would it?

(We’ve added more details since this post.)

German beer sales up – for how long?

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German beer consumption rose 1.4% in 2006, the largest gain – and, in fact, only the second – in 12 years.

Increases sales are credited to the month-long World Cup football tournament and don’t necessarily indicate the slide of the last decade is over. Sales have declined 15% in the last dozen years. Only in 2004, when weather was unusually warm most of the summer, were brewers able to increase in production.

[Via Reuters.]

Herz new craft beer marketing director

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The Brewers Association has hired Julia Herz as director of craft beer marketing. Herz replaces Ray Daniels, who remains with the Brewers Association as the director of Brewers Publications.

“Julia has a passion and a vision for craft beer,” Bob Pease, Brewers Association vice president, said in a press release. “We are excited to utilize Herz’s knowledge of the beer and wine industry coupled with her sales and PR experience to further the ever growing craft beer market.”

Most recently Herz was the vice president of Redstone Meadery in Boulder, Colo. She is also one of the founding members of the International Mead Association, organizer of the International Mead Festival.

Prior to working at Redstone Meadery, Herz served as the sales manager for the Brewers Association (known then as Association of Brewers) for three years.

The beer kitchen of your dreams

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Lisa Morrison and Mark Campbell put a “beer doo-dah” at the heart of their kitchen/entertainment area when they remodeled their Portland, Oregon, home.

“We live in the most amazing place for craft beer. I really wanted to give craft beer credit where it’s due, so I built this really beautiful thing around beer so that people can walk in and say, ‘Wow, that is absolutely gorgeous.’ This is something you can actually highlight, be proud of and show off,” said Morrison, known in some circles at the “beer goddess.”

The doo-dah is a custom built-in cabinet that delivers beer from two taps and displays the couple’s vast collection of pint glasses. And the floor features a “river of beer” (no, not beer itself, but the wood inlay suggests beer).

The the whole story. Your contractor will thank you.

Bud may ‘lighten up’ for Super Bowl

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Just so you know what the biggest brewing companies are thinking.

– Earlier this week we had Miller shelving its Man Laws commercials in favor of emphasizing the taste and heritage of Miller Lite. So you can expect to see more of the spots with Miller workers hanging banners show off Lite’s awards.

– Today the Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) previews what to expect from Budweiser during the Super Bowl. “In the past couple of years, Bud has largely focused on ads promoting the quality of its brew, leaving the funny spots to its sibling brand, Bud Light, which is targeted at a younger audience,” the Journal reports, explainingg there will likely be a change, with lighter, funnier Bud spots as well.

Bob Lachky, executive vice president, global industry development, said “the humor of the two brands is different, reflecting their different target audiences. Budweiser, which targets a 28-plus, predominantly male and blue-collar crowd, uses humorous ads that aim to put a ‘smile’ on people’s faces, he adds. Bud Light, which targets the 21-to-27-year-old age group, uses a more slapstick or sophomoric approach.”

Jim Koch Q & A

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Wine & Spirits Jobs has an interview with Boston Beer founder Jim Koch. Among the questions: “Is it true that every employee in the company knows how to brew beer?”

Koch’s answer:

“Every year we have a company-wide homebrew contest, and yes, finance, mailroom, sales – everybody has a fair shot at winning. This year, one of our top sales trainers, Ken Smith, won the contest, and we’re going to distribute his beer nationally along with the winners of the American Homebrew Contest under the brand name Longshot. We can provide our people with a great education about beer, but when you have a big pot of boiling, frothing malt overflowing on your stove, you really understand brewing.”

Read the entire interview

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Guinness drinkers seeing red

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As previously announced, Guinness is testing its new new Guinness Red, using a lighter roasted barley for a ruby red colour and less bitter taste, in 142 British pubs.

The trial is expected to last three to nine months, and is one of a number of tests Guinness has and is conducting. Currently, Guinness mid-strength with an alcohol content of 2.8 percent is on trial in Irish pubs.